Tag: UNC Women’s Basketball

UNC women’s basketball earn top-four seed in ESPN way-too-early bracketology

UNC women’s basketball has some high expectations says ESPN’s new way-too-early look at the NCAA Tournament bracket

With basketball just around the corner, both the men’s and women’s teams at UNC have high expectations for the season. Specifically in the release of the most recent ESPN version of the way-too-early bracket predictions, the women’s team has lofty expectations.

The Tar Heels finished last season with an 11-7 record in the conference and a 20-13 record overall for the season.

In the last NCAA Women’s Tournament, North Carolina earned a No. 8 seed and took on No. 9 seeded Michigan State and won before losing to the champion, No. 1-seeded South Carolina in the second round.

This year, ESPN projects that the women’s basketball team will land a No. 4 seed in the Albany region.

The team is returning leader and guard Alyssa Ustby who averaged 12.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game as a junior. Lexi Donarski is back as well as a graduate who averaged 10.5 points per game last year.

They also added the No. 32 recruit in the Class of 2024, center Blanca Thomas from Charlotte Catholic and four-star Lanie Grant from Midlothian, Virginia. This team will be one to watch this year.

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

UNC women’s basketball lands five-star player in 2025 class

The Class of 2025 just got that much better as UNC basketball landed this five-star wing from Virginia.

Just a few weeks ago, UNC women’s basketball signed Taliyah Henderson, a five-star wing and the No. 21 ranked recruit in the Class of 2025. The class was already looking up before another five-star prospect chose Chapel Hill.

From the state of Virginia in Alexandria at Bishop Ireton High School plays the No. 12 recruit in the same class as Henderson. The 6-foot-1 wing committed to play at the University of Tennessee as a sophomore, but she has since changed her mind after the firing of Kellie Harper.

After receiving a ton of offers and narrowing it down to UNC, Tennessee, Maryland, and Georgia, Nyla Brooks officially announced on social media today that she will be committing to North Carolina.

https://x.com/DushawnLondon1/status/1829258202476884316

The pair of talent that the Heels now have at the guard position between two top-25 recruits will be dominant for years to come. This also can’t come at a better time with the team set to lose Deja Kelly as well.

Brooks and Henderson will join a roster led by Courtney Banghart and try to bring home another championship to the UNC family.

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

Four-star daughter of Joe Girardi lists UNC in her final five

Joe Girardi’s daughter includes UNC women’s basketball in her final five schools!

After ending the 2024 season as the No. 5 team in the ACC, the North Carolina Tar Heels women’s basketball team quickly lost in the conference tournament by one point to Miami (FL).

They drew a No. 8 seed in the 2024 NCAA Tournament set to play Michigan State in the first round. After a three-point win over the Spartans, they fell by 47 points in the second round to the NCAA Champion South Carolina Gamecocks.

The future may be getting a little brighter for women’s basketball fans as Class of 2025, four-star guard Lena Girardi keeps UNC in the running as she cuts her list down to the final five teams.

The other four schools include Virginia Tech, Northwestern, Oklahoma State, and Arizona. The Hokies are the only other school that would be an inner conference battle.

The 6-foot-0 guard from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has been playing at IMG Academy. According to 247sports, “[she] is regarded as one of the premier off-the-ball guards in her class nationwide.”

North Carolina doesn’t currently have any commits for the Class of 2025 in the ESPNW Top 100. If Girardi were to decide on UNC, it could be a huge bolster for Courtney Banghart going forward.

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

Follow all of your favorite Carolina teams at Tar Heels Wire and Panthers Wire!

Could a Top-20 recruit be headed to the UNC women’s basketball team?

Can the UNC women’s basketball program compile a convincing case to lure this top recruit in the Class of 2025?

Thanks to their rediscovered success in recent years, including four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, the North Carolina Tar Heels have become a premier destination for women’s basketball talent.

UNC can thank head coach Courtney Banghart, plus the star-powered duo of Alyssa Ustby and Deja Kelly, for that recent success.

North Carolina’s deepest run since Banghart took over came during the 2021-2022 campaign, making the Sweet 16 before falling to eventual champion South Carolina. The Tar Heels won an NCAA Tournament game in each of the past three years, with the most recent coming against Michigan State this March.

Ustby nearly averaged a double-double last season, with 12.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game, not far above her career averages of 12 and 8.2. Kelly, now with Oregon, averaged at least 16.3 points per game in each of her past three years.

What UNC loses in Kelly, it gains in several talented freshman recruits entering the fall, highlighted by reigning Virginia Girls Basketball Gatorade Player of the Year Lanie Grant.

North Carolina is also in the mix for a Class of 2025 standout, with Top-20 recruit Jordan Speiser, a 5-star recruit and Missouri’s reigning Gatorade Girls Basketball Player of the Year, announcing the Tar Heels as finalists.

Iowa, Kansas State and Ohio State all made the NCAA Tournament last year, highlighted by the Hawkeyes making the Title Game, before losing to South Carolina. TCU hasn’t made the Big Dance since 2010.

If  the Tar Heels land Speiser, she’d be one of their greatest recruiting victories in program history. Speiser is fresh off a dominant junior campaign, in which she registered a career-high 22.9 points per game for Lutheran St. Charles, en route to a state championship.

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

Cory McNeill joins Courtney Banghart’s staff as an assistant coach

Former East Carolina women’s basketball assistant coach Cory McNeill joins Courtney Banghart’s staff.

It’s a great day to be a Tar Heel, as the University of North Carolina women’s basketball program has hired [autotag]Cory McNeill[/autotag] as an assistant coach.

The announcement came Tuesday morning, with the news popping up on the program’s social channels. McNeil joins the staff with a solid amount of experience, with his last stop being with the East Carolina Pirates, coaching to a conference championship and an NCAA tournament appearance in 2023.

UNC head coach [autotag]Courtney Banghart[/autotag] is entering her sixth season as the head coach of the program, spoke highly of McNeil in the press release listed below.

“We are thrilled to add Cory to our coaching staff and to the Carolina family,” Banghart said. “He is a proven winner, an experienced and talented coach, a dedicated skill developer, and an impactful recruiter. Cory brings upbeat and positive energy paired with a relentlessly competitive spirit. He will absolutely move our needle and we’re all excited to add this invaluable teammate to our Championship Pursuit.”

It’s fair to say the program will look different next year with UNC’s star Deja Kelly departing for a fresh start with Oregon. So, it makes perfect sense for new staff additions with a new identity being formed within the team.

There’s no telling what next season can have in store for the Tar Heels, but adding McNeil to the staff is a great start.

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

UNC basketball signee Blanca Thomas invited to try out for National Team

Five-star UNC women’s basketball signee Blanca Thomas gets the opportunity of a lifetime this month.

Would you believe us if we told you next year could be even better for the UNC women’s basketball team?

Last year looked like it would be special – North Carolina returned star captains Deja Kelly and Alyssa Ustby, recruited the likes of starters Maria Gakdeng and Lexi Donarski in the transfer portal, while the Tar Heels upset in-state rival NC State to highlight their slate of impressive victories.

There’s no doubt this coming season is going to look different, as Kelly transferred to Oregon a few weeks back, but UNC should be ever more talented and go deeper in the NCAA Tournament.

Why is that?

North Carolina is bringing in even more transfers and two 5-star recruits – point guard Lanie Grant and center Blanca Thomas.

The latter 5-star gets to represent the Tar Heels on a national stage, as she was recently invited to try out for the USA U-18 Team.

This is a pretty exciting honor for Thomas, the 6-foot-5 star from Charlotte (NC) Catholic High School. She’ll be competing with 11 other Class of 2024 recruits, plus 14 Class of 2025 Recruits, for a USA U18 National Team spot.

When trials are done, Thomas hopes she’ll be helping the United States to their 11th-consecutive gold medal in the event.

What better tune-up for college hoops season than playing for the National Team?

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

Deja Kelly confirms she will not return to Chapel Hill

Deja Kelly will not come back to the UNC women’s basketball team after all.

What Deja Kelly did for the UNC women’s basketball program over the last four years was nothing short of amazing.

The Tar Heels made the NCAA Tournament in each season and their furthest run was to the 2022 Sweet 16. Kelly was a key each year, averaging double-digit point totals and leading North Carolina in scoring.

Kelly entered the transfer portal this offseason although a glimmer of hope remained that she would return to UNC.

Those possible rumors of a return were officially shot down on Friday, May 3, as Kelly posted a heartfelt message to her X (formerly Twitter) account.

We saw Seth Trimble do something similar with the UNC men’s basketball team, though he withdrew his name from the portal and will be playing his third season in Chapel Hill.

If you had asked me a month ago about Kelly’s decision to not return, I would have thought the UNC women’s team had a much different outlook. Several players entered the transfer portal. Luckily for the Tar Heels, they were all reserves.

North Carolina is projected to have a deep roster, though, headlined by the return of star forward Alyssa Ustby. Every other starter is expected back, with Lexi Donarski also electing to use her final year of eligibility in Chapel Hill.

It’s going to be weird not seeing Kelly in Carolina Blue next season, but I wish her luck in her future.

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

Alyssa Ustby announces return to UNC in nostalgia-provoking video

Good news, Tar Heel fans: Alyssa Ustby is BACK as she announced her return on Friday.

If you’ve been watching UNC women’s basketball games since the 2020-2021 campaign, then you’ve surely seen Alyssa Ustby tearng up the court.

Ustby, the senior forward from Rochester, Minn., is practically a walking double-double. She averaged 12.5 points and a career-high 9.5 rebounds per game last season, with her best outing undoubtedly being the 16-point, 16-rebound, 10-assist triple-double she recorded on Jan. 4 against Syracuse – the first triple-double in North Carolina program history.

She’s been fortunate to also have a player of Deja Kelly’s caliber by her side, with the two forming one of the ACC’s best guard-forward combos in the past few season. The duo led UNC to the Round of 32 in last year’s NCAA Tournament, but the Sweet 16 in 2022.

While Kelly might be gone next year, as she entered her name in the portal earlier this month, Ustby announced she’d be returning for her fifth and final season on Friday, April 26.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C6PdORnvmtJ/

Ustby’s announcement is a major win for the Tar Heels, who’ve already seen six players enter the transfer portal. UNC did nab a major win in the portal recently, though, snagging Grace Townsend from Richmond.

Ustby will be part of what’s expected to be a deep roster this coming fall, one that also returns starters from a season ago in 3-point machine Lexi Donarski and towering center Maria Gakdeng. Key reserves Reniya Kelly and Indya Nivar come back, as is Kayla McPherson from a knee injury, while incoming 5-stars Lanie Grant and Blanca Thomas join the roster.

Can Ustby lead the Tar Heels to the promised land in her final year?

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

UNC women’s basketball lands commitment out of transfer portal

Grace Townsend signs with North Carolina out of the transfer portal on Tuesday afternoon.

Courtney Banghart will have her work cut out for her this Summer as it will be a new-look women’s program with some departures. After Deja Kelly entered the transfer portal on Monday, it was another player that is planning to leave the program, adding to the already long list.

But on Tuesday, the Tar Heels received some good news.

The former Richmond standout joined the Tar Heels on Tuesday as the program made it official. The point guard spent the past four seasons with Richmond and is coming off a big 2023-24 season in which she averaged 13.5 points and 5.2 assists per game for the Spiders.

Banghart released this statement on the pickup for UNC:

“In the transfer portal, you hunt the perfect add, the player that can provide value and contribute in the most meaningful ways,” Banghart said. “Grace is a proven winner and an impactful competitor, and she and her family will be the perfect add to the Carolina family.”

Townsend started three seasons for the Spiders and will spend her final season with North Carolina, hoping to get the team back to the NCAA Tournament.

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

UNC women’s basketball team debuts in Way-Too-Early Top 25 rankings

There’s a lot of promise for the UNC women’s basketball team next season, which leads to its first ESPN ranking of the offseason. Will the Tar Heels capitalize this time?

The NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship hasn’t even been over 48 hours yet, but we’re already looking ahead to next season.

South Carolina truly showed it’s among the sport’s elite programs, winning its third national championship since 2019 by distancing itself from Caitlin-Clark-led Iowa late. What made this feat all-the-more impressive was the Gamecocks replacing all five starters from a season ago, including 2023 WNBA Draft top overall pick Aaliyah Boston.

Clark will likely be joining her former opponent on the Indiana Fever next year, as barring something drastic, she’ll be going Number One overall.

Speaking of next year, South Carolina leads off ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 25 rankings.

The real Carolina, North Carolina, is also part of the rankings at 14th.

“Lexi Donarski, Alyssa Ustby and Deja Kelly are not on the WNBA draft list, but they have not officially announced their intentions to return to Chapel Hill,” ESPN’s Charlie Creme said. “If they do, (UNC head coach) Courtney Banghart might have her most talented group at North Carolina. Five-star recruits 6-5 Blanca Thomas and 6-4 Ciera Toomey, who redshirted this year, are set to join the active roster and join 6-3 Maria Gakdeng on the front line. Lanie Grant, a 5-10 point guard who is the Virginia state player of the year, reclassified from the Class of 2025 to join the Tar Heels next season.”

It’s worth noting that on Monday, April 8, Kelly shocked Tar Heel Nation by entering her name in the transfer portal. She’s shined ever since stepping on campus, but maybe she just wants to test the waters.

Even if Kelly decides not to return, UNC is plenty loaded.

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.